Midnight Rose
by KeepItM
Summary: If one was able to withstand the agony and pain then one shall be able to refine themselves with it. For when the winter rose shatters with the snow, it'll come back next year more prettier. The story of a young Audino and her adventures with her best friend, an Emolga.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning, this story contains violence, gore, psychological themes and adult themes. Viewer discretion is advised. This is your first and final warning.**

 **I had this story sitting in my computer for a while, it was one of many stories and characters who never got published. However, I fixed and added a couple of things and decided it was worth a shot. I might end up continuing writing this. The story (edited) is inspired by the game "Fran Bow".**

* * *

"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think."

― Horace Walpole

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

― Mel Brooks

"The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love."

― Kristina McMorris, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Second Chance**

Many people in this world believe that the universe is governed by a set of causes and effects. Or that the great Arceus placed us on this earth for us to deliver purpose that he hath not created. Purpose, in my eyes is just a lie that compels us to keep walking forward in a black void called life. When my entire life was thrown into despair and when my view of reality was shattered into nothing; I choose to keep going against the agony and pain. No matter how much pain was brought upon me I'll always find my way back into the light.

When my eternity of pain ended, I reached out into the light for Arceus in which he denies my little black paw. He who told me through darkness and despair, if one was able to withstand the agony then one shall be able to refine themselves with it.

Through a grand city, past a small bridge, next to an old castle, near a field of flowers which followed a grand river marked my beginnings. Kalos, route 7, Pokemon daycare.

"Jason. Come quick!" A girl squealed while waving her hands like a maniac. She quickly ran out the sliding glass door of my little confined room.

Everything was bright, fluorescent and...artificial. I didn't wake up to the sound of leaves rattling or the sound of bird Pokemon chirping. Instead, I found myself in a little white confined room, in a little confined "see through" plastic box. There was hardly any furniture for the exception of a small wooden shelf. Everything seemed so confusing and bright, like I was lost. I was lost from the holy light, I lost Arceus's touch. I tried to call out for mommy and daddy but no words came out; only the sound of crying came out of my mouth.

"Jason! He's...she's...it's hatched!" The girl yelled while dragging a middle aged man by the hand into the room. They both wore the same uniform, green overalls with black rubber boots. The girl looked relatively young; like a high school student who's doing their work experience here. While, the man looked like he'd been battered by the endless progression of time.

"Isn't she a beauty, a baby Audino." He said, opening the plastic box before picking me up by the waist. I kicked, resisted and cried while trying to break his iron grip. Small bits of egg fragments fell off my pale fur as I continued to gasp and cry.

"It's so cute!" The girl squealed. "Can I name him—"

"It's a her." Jason replied bluntly.

"Can I name her?!" The girl continued, gently tapping the ground in excitement. The mud on her rubber boots printed their marks into the floor.

Jason hesitated for a while; he stared into my watery blue eyes. I stared back at him with my "gifted courageous attitude"; I tried to pinch his fingers to prompt him to put me down. Despite my best efforts trying to escape his grip, it failed.

"You're tough one." Jason smiled at me. "Sure, you can name her."

"Lisette!" The girl responded immediately.

Before Jason could ask the young girl about the poorly decided name, their conversation was short lived as it was interrupted by a knock.

 _Knock, knock!_

There was another Audino at the sliding glass door. Her worried expression could be seen from a mile away. Resting in the large hairy hands of Jason, I stared down at the other Audino. She looked exactly like me. She looked old, not much older than...Jason. She had her face, body and paws pushed against the glass. Her large pink ears and her pale pink and cream coloured fur swished from side to side as she waited anxiously against the door. Maybe it was instinct or something, but a sense of relief paused my crying as I stared at the other Audino. I don't know...maybe this feeling of relief could be described as joy.

 _Mommy?_

"Huh. Looks like we have a visitor." Jason smiled as he carried me towards the sliding glass door, picking up a small white blanket on the shelf in the process. "Mia, go fetch me the formula for this baby of ours."

The young girl immediately followed his instructions and disappeared into another room. Jason opened the glass door and knelt down in front of my mother.

"Congratulations." Jason smiled as he wrapped the blanket around my tiny body. Despite just hatching a couple of minutes ago, I've already managed to grown hatred towards things. I hate confined space, I especially hate being wrapped around by a blanket. It was tight...but it was warm. I like warm stuff.

"It's a girl." Jason added. He took a deep breath in and placed me into my mother's arms. "She has quite an outgoing personality."

In my mother's arms, I laid quietly and calm. We both stared into each other's eyes as we embraced this moment together. There was an unspoken connection between us, it was almost like we knew each other from the very beginning. Indeed, it was a beginning for me. A new beginning in this new world. Some would describe it as a second chance. A rush of...something went through me. Joy, that's what's called. As the last couple of teardrops vanished from my eyes, all that remained was a small smile. The moment felt like it lasted forever, and I was happy that it did. A few seconds of love is enough to bring a smile into the saddest of faces.

When my tears disappeared off my face, they started appearing on my mother's. Small drops of water creeped their way up into mother's eyes. From a small rain cloud, it quickly turned into a storm. She knelt down, holding me ever so close to her. Ever so close that I was able to feel the excitement in her heartbeat. It pulsed strong, with each beat there was joy and life. She cried, panted and gasped louder than I did. However, she did it with a smile.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. "You don't need to cry."

"I-I, I'm so happy. I thought I'll never become a mother." Mother replied, wiping away her tears. However, it's clear that Jason didn't understand what she said. I quickly learned that they both speak different languages, and I understood neither of them.

"Here you go!" Mia said (the girl), holding onto a plastic bottle with some sort of white liquid in it. Her reappearance was so sudden that it gave me a fright, and I began to cry again.

"Don't cry, mommy is here." My mother said, rocking me back and forth in her arms. "It's okay—"

Jason quickly snatched the bottle out of the girl's hand before gently placing the nozzle in my mouth. A gush of sweet, creamy substance flooded my mouth. It tasted strange, it tasted synthetic, but I somehow liked it. I pulled my little pink paws out of the wrap and held onto the warm bottle tightly, while still sucking on the nozzle. My crying soon disappeared.

"I can't thank you enough!" She smiled as she rocked me back and forth. "I can't thank you enough."

Mother then leaned into Jason's arms; holding me with one arm.

"Ahh." Jason smiled, hugging her. "You don't have to thank me. After all, it's new beginning for all of us."

As mother hugged Jason, as I hugged my bottle of milk, a small Emolga sat in the empty dark hallway behind us. I was able to see every little detail about her. Her warm smile, her cute black eyes, her little teeth that poked out of her mouth and the cuts and gaping wounds all over her body. However, the wounds have all clotted and she wasn't bleeding but the dried remains of blood still lingered on her fur. Despite her questionable appearance, she seemed nice, cute and friendly.

The Emolga stood up and waved at me, however I didn't reply as I was too busy sucking on the bottle. As Jason and mother finished their hug, the Emolga withered away like bits of sand being blown away by the wind. What remained was an empty hallway and a baby Audino who had fallen asleep in their mother's arm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Ms Rose**

10 years later.

As the golden sun sets beneath the crystal blue lake, I waved goodbye to my friends and my peers. Ever so often, a trainer would come pick up their Pokemon. Some trainers leave the daycare with their small bundles of joy while others leave with Pokemon couples who are awaiting their parenthood.

When the sun drew its last breath, the last trainer picked up his last Pokemon and left the daycare.

"Bye Lisette, I'll see you tomorrow!" A small Pichu said. He was sitting on he's trainer's shoulder as they walked further and further the down the dark dirt path.

"Bye!" I waved back.

Unlike any other Pokemon, no trainer came to pick mother and I up. I remember asking mother, why, and all she said was, "this is our home, we belonged to Jason". She never went into full detail about it, but I didn't care anyway.

Every night Jason would stay up very late to clean up the daycare, mother usually helps him tidy up loose paper work while I sit around and watch. When everything is tidy, Jason turns off all the lights and says his goodbyes. I often tell mother that I'm scared of the dark and I didn't want Jason to turn the lights off, but she couldn't do anything much. Then again, I'm only scared when I'm by myself in the dark.

When the lights go out; the orange comfy looking couches and the lively blue kitchen bench in the staff lounge turns into a cold dark. Only the smallest glimpses of light could be seen illuminating from the digital clock.

 _Why do the colours disappear at night? Do they sleep as well?_

"It's time to sleep Lisette." Mother said in a plain tone. She hopped onto one of the couches, while I hopped onto the other one which was facing her.

Mother and I usually slept on the couches; not that we have a problem with it. It's nice and cosy, unlike one of those Pokeballs.

"Sleep well, my dear." Mother yawned.

"You too." I replied, cheerfully. With that said I closed my eyes, however I didn't sleep.

When the daycare becomes dark, quite and empty. When the creatures are asleep except for me; I lay in my "bed" and waited for my guest. I waited for my friend, my very first and best friend. For when the digital clock on the bench presented "1 am", I would quietly hop off the couch and tip toe my way into our wonder land.

Like every night, I would sneak out of the staff lounge and into the hallway. With every step I took, the wooden floorboards creaked and groaned under my weight.

"Sorry. Mr Floor. I hope it doesn't hurt too much, but I really need to go see my friend." I would often apologies to the ground, and they would often reply with more groans.

With every step I took, the shadows followed me. The darkness engulfed every previous step, creeping closer to me each time.

"You're not the same..." The darkness would say. They often whisper, cry and scream terrible things to me.

 _Don't be scared of the dark, Lisette. Don't be scared._

Despite, dealing with the darkness every night. I always manage to persuade myself to push forward down the hallway, until I reached the "play area".

As I slipped through the giant door, the sight of an empty lounge came into my view. Most of the room was filled with toys for us kids (Pokemon) to play with. There were chew toys for the "wild ones", dolls for the "kind ones", pillows to hide in and a small tent to bring alive any fantasy. The moonlight flickered and danced off the nearby lake. The light bounced off the water, through the play area outside, through the glass door and into the room. It provided decent lighting, it outlined and tinted everything in the room dim blue.

In the corner of the lounge, under the brightest spot of light. There sat a small Emolga who was busy drawing with a crayon. Her little cute black eyes, big black ears and her smooth elegant curves are like a beacon. She had such a graceful body, that I occasionally get jealous. However she wasn't perfect, she had two gaping wounds; one on her chest and one on her wing-like-flaps. They looked painful...like she had been impaled twice. From the first moment we met, the till now. No matter how many bandages I wrapped around her, no matter how much time passed. The two gaping wounds never seemed to heal.

"Hello, Ms Rose." I said cheerfully, running over to the drawing table. I like to call her Ms Rose because her favourite colour is red. Roses are red and pretty; she likes the colour red and she is pretty, therefore I named her Ms Rose.

Ms Rose didn't reply, instead, she kept drawing. Then again, she often doesn't like to talk.

"Hey Rose!" I said again. As I approached the table, a sound of dripping could be heard as clear as day.

When my eyes adjusted to the darkness and when I took that extra step forward to get close to her, In a flash, blood splatters spawned across all the toys and walls of the room. Small drops of blood dripped from the ceiling and crawled their way down the walls like vines. Bits of flesh fell from the ceiling before trashing down on the carpet with a thud. As if they were there waiting for my arrival; like confetti from a surprise birthday party, annoying and hard to clean up. From a lovely dim blue play area, it turned into a crimson bloody chamber. The shadows in the hallway cried and screamed as they tried to exit the hallway into the light. They begged for me to come back.

"Lisette!" They screamed.

Despite all of this, I wasn't scared. Mommy tells me that you can't be truly be afraid of something if you don't get to know them first. The problem was that the shadows lack conversation skills; I don't think I'll get to know them anytime soon.

"Hey Lisette." Rose replied with a smile. "How's your day?"

"The day is always better when I'm with you." I said, with a cheeky smile before giving her a hug. She felt cold and dry, but her fur was always soft. The bandages which were wrapped around Rose's wounds were all red and "drippy". When I hugged her, it was like squeezing on a sponge. Blood dripped out of the wet bandages and dyed my pink fur a dark red.

"Oh dear!" I gasped, staring at my body. "I-I'm sorry Ms Rose. I'll go-go find new bandages."

I quickly ran over to the wooden cupboard which was behind the drawing table. It groaned and hissed as blood dripped out from the doors. I've seen the daycare workers store bandaids and bandages incase any of us manages to cut ourselves. However, as I opened one of the doors. A pile of...biological matter flooded out ontop of me.

"Eeek!" I squealed, spitting out all the blood that got into my mouth. Organs, flesh and...weird stuff was piled all around me. The smell was...horrific, but I didn't seem to mind it. If Ms Rose was fine with everything, then I'm fine as well.

I dug around in the pile of flesh until I found a plastic bag labelled "first aid". I ripped it open and grabbed the band aids and bandages before pushing my way out of the pile of flesh.

"Ms Rose." I called, running back towards the drawing table. "I've got the—"

However, I was greeted with an unpleasant sight. A sight that bothers me down to the core. Out of the puddles of blood, flesh and screams from the shadows; I saw Ms Rose holding a pair of scissors. She held the blade over her left wrist and with a gentle slice, blood oozed out. However, she didn't stop there. She continued to cut along herself along the arm, with each slice a small giggle would come out of her mouth. Ms Rose seemed to enjoy it.

One slice.

Two slices.

Three slices...

Seven slices.

"Stop that!" I said, using one paw to snatch the scissors from her while using the other to hold all the medical supplies. "It's not good to do that."

I can't stand watching Ms Rose harm herself. When she does, it hurts me more than it does hurt her. Ms Rose is the only friend that cares about me, who give me a hug in the darkest times. Unlike any of my other friends, she never leaves.

"But-but." She said, a bit irritated that I took the scissors. "I ran out of red crayon."

"I know you did." I replied, raising my voice. "You don't have to use your own blood as paint. You can use a different colour."

"Mmmph." She grunted, crossing her arms. She had all the crayons to herself, despite that, instead of picking up a different coloured crayon. Ms Rose began to finger paint with her blood. She used her bleeding left arm as a palette and her fingers as a brush. I guess you can't separate Ms Rose from her favourite colour.

I took a deep breath in and sighed. I used the scissors and cut off the dirty bandages that was wrapped around Ms Rose.

"There's no point changing them." She smiled, as she continued to paint. "My wounds will never heal. We both know that."

"What if they do?" I smiled back. Using masking tape, I tied up the bandage so it wouldn't fall off. "My mommy told me that with aid; any wound can heal—"

"Done!" Ms Rose exclaimed as she held up a piece of paper.

"Take a look!" She said, turning around before waving it in front of my face.

The picture that she had drawn is as messy as this chamber we're in; a sloppy bloody mess. However, if you looked hard enough, you could see what she had drawn.

There was an Emolga, Audino and...this long thing. They were all holding...hands, the Emolga being in the middle. A very large love heart was drawn around them like a barrier.

"That's me and you!" Ms. Rose said, pointing at the Emolga and the Audino. "Best! Best! Best friends!"

"Then who's this?" I asked, pointing at the "long thing".

"Ohh, deary." She moaned, collapsing dramatically in her little plastic chair; she had her eyes closed with one paw over her forehead. It was like she was auditioning for something. "He's the most beautiful serpent. The snake of my heart."

"Ohh, deary." She moaned again as she began to rub her chest. "Oh! I want him so much. How I miss him."

"Do you see him often." I said while sticking band aids over the cuts on her arm.

"Of course I do. I can't live without him." Ms Rose said, hugging the painting until it scrunched up. "In fact, I can take you with me to see him tomorrow."

"Really?" I replied; a bit surprised. You don't usually see us kids boasting about their girlfriends or boyfriends because other kids tease you about it. Then again, I don't think Ms Rose knows anyone else who would tease her about her love. "Can you tell me about him?"

"Oh, don't be so impatient." Ms Rose giggled. "I'll take you there tomorrow night..."

* * *

 **"For those who bothered to look further than the story will find meaning before this story is even completed."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A beating heart**

"Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways." ~ (Bible) Proverbs 28:6

* * *

"Lisette!" A voice called.

 _Huh?_

"Get up!" The voice called again; this time in a demanding tone. "You're in big trouble young lady."

 _Just five more minutes..._

However, instead of receiving the "five more minutes" that I'd requested for; I'd awoken to the feeling of pain. The pain of being pinched and dragged along by the ear.

"Ow! Ow!" I gasped; being lifted up off the floor by the ear. I opened my eyes to confront my "ear pincher". Except, the only thing that I confronted was my aggravated mother.

"Look at the mess you made!" She said, still pinching my ear.

As my eyes lazily opened; the blinding morning light flushed into the room. The sluggish sun was barely above the calm golden river. When my eyes focused, I was able to understand mother's frustration. We were in the "play area", there were chew toys for the "wild ones", dolls for the "kind ones", pillows to hide in and a small tent to bring alive any fantasy...the problem was that all of them had been littered randomly throughout the lounge.

"Please don't tell me you've been sneaking out of bed again to play with your imaginary friend." She scolded, putting me down before folding her arms.

"Ms Rose isn't imaginary." I grunted before raising my voice. "At least she cares for me, unlike you. All you care about is Jason and his career."

That managed to raise an eyebrow. Mother stared at me for a good couple of seconds with her eyes wide open; trying to fix the switch that I pulled in her head. Her aggravated eyes managed to camouflage the wrinkles on her face.

"Darling..." Mother sighed, she seemed irritated probably because this wasn't the first time we had this conversation. "Please don't start this again—"

Mother doesn't tend to yell, nor does she like getting into an argument first thing in the morning.

"—Let's just get this room cleaned before anyone else sees it..."

* * *

"Stupid adults." I mumbled to myself, marching down the dark hallway. "They think they could lock me in the staff lounge all night."

Once again the sun had fallen and the stars took its place. Once again I found myself walking down the dark hallway. Once again the floors groaned and the shadows screamed. Just like always...

"Lisette." The shadows called, crawling up and down the walls behind me. They tend to change shape and size as they struggle to keep up with my walking pace. Whenever I look behind, the hallway is always an empty void of darkness. Whatever the shadows touch, it fades and cripples away like sand.

"Why don't you come and play with us tonight." They encouraged before stretching out my name.

"No thank you." I replied blunty. "My friend Ms Rose is waiting for—"

I was rudely interrupted by a agonizing scream. The shadows groaned and cried as they speed up their "crawling pace". Closer and closer, the void of "nothingness" kept calling "LISETTE".

From a steady march, I began to walk. Soon, we were having a foot race.

"I just want to feel you..." The darkness screamed. "I just need some love..."

"I already told you! I need to go see Ms Rose." I yelled. From my power walk, I began a steady jog.

I don't know what how long we raced each other. The only thing I recalled was slamming the door to prevent the shadows from entering the play area. Beads of sweat flooded down my fur as I placed my whole body in front of the door to make sure the shadows couldn't breach through. Perhaps I've should've paid more attention to my surroundings, rather than my endless struggles with the shadows; but it took me a while to realize that I wasn't in the play area.

I was somewhere else.

I found myself in a grand ballroom. The sounds of cheering and laughter echoed throughout the room; along with presence of many Pokemon. They all wore fancy dresses and suits as they danced in unison with their partners to a calm gentle tune. However not a single instrument could be seen, the only instrument was the gentle melody of nature.

My eyes darted around as my anxiousness started to flood my mind. I don't like unfamiliar places, especially at night. However, my anxiousness was short lived. The ceiling was as tall as towers and the walls were all painted yellow with golden vines growing on them. Fine scenery artwork of the most beautiful places were presented high up on the walls along with the chandeliers.

All the different types of Pokemon all tapped their feet on the white marble floor as the cheers continued to flow.

"Excuse me young lady." A voice called, breaking my daydream.

Still pressing my body against the door, I looked around to see who was calling me.

"Down here." The voiced called again.

I looked down, only to find a small Fennekin. His large cute eyes, his adorable ears and a small bow tie around his neck made it hard to speak to him without at least groaning "Awww" once. Despite the young and adorable appearance, his voice sounds deep and "gentlemen like".

"I believe you are—" He said, squinting at me.

"—my name is Lisette." I interrupted, moving my body away from the door before wiping away the sweat on my hands. "I'm looking for my friend Ms—"

"My dear! Are you looking for Ms Rose?" The Fenniken said, cutting me off. He hesitated for a while before resuming the conversation.

"She's at the balcony waiting for you. My, my, you are late." He continued, before turning around to point me towards a set of doors. "You'll find her over there."

 _Balcony?_

"Now, If you'll excuse me. I have to get back to my partner."

Without another word, the Fenniken turned around and disappeared into the crowd of dancing Pokemon; and I did the same. I managed to squeeze and push my way through the busy dance floor; only to step on a couple of toes/feet/flippers/claws in the process. Don't get me wrong, but I would've joined the Pokemon and their lovely dance if I had a partner. After all, I've never been to any social event before; especially not a ball.

"Ms Rose?" I said, knocking on the set of doors. There was no reply, so I knocked again, this time more louder. No reply. After many minutes of patient waiting, I ended up inviting myself in.

"Ms Rose?"

As I pushed open the large wooden doors, I was greeted by a pleasant sight. On the balcony, under the sea of stars and in the calm natural breeze laid a rather large Serperior. He was tall, and had cyan (or is it turquoise?) colored scales, they're blue like a calm ocean yet green like a thriving forest. However, I wouldn't call him a shiny considering he's not actually blue. He also had a rather "smooth" face. Some would call it handsome.

The Serperior was coiled comfortably on the balcony, and on top of the coil sat an Emolga who I called Ms Rose. She sat there comfortably with one paw gently stroking the Serperior and the other paw tightly gripped around an elegantly carved sharp piece of metal. She sat on top of the Serperior rising the blade back and forth out of the serpents body. The beautiful scales that I described is what you'd find under the thick layer of crimson blood.

"Oh how I missed you so much." Ms Rose groaned as she slammed the knife into the Serperior over and over again.

"Dear, I missed you as well." The Serperior smiled, a smile that's free from any pain.

Their faces of pleasure made me freeze, I wanted to move but I found myself stuck watching. However, I wasn't scared but I didn't know how to respond either. I stood there silently, with an uneasy heart.

 _Ms Rose?_

Ms Rose's groans of pain and pleasure turned into a small giggle before bursting into a full blown laughter. Ms Rose then stabbed the knife into Serperior's stomach; and slowly she inched the knife up the Serperior. As the knife moved, the sound of skin, flesh, bones and muscles tearing apart echoed louder than the howling wind. They weren't Pokemon, they were like animals.

For once, I felt like I was completely invisible. No one could hear or see me, nor did I have the courage to speak up.

The Serperior stopped moving while his eyes rolled up. He drew his last breath before his head fell into the cold hard balcony; littered with his blood. Ms Rose brought the knife up to the chest of the Serperior before stopping. She began digging around inside him; using the knife as a shovel. She ripped out the muscles, the bones and the lung. Piece by piece. In the end, she found what she'd been looking for.

"Your heart is mine." She whispered to herself, holding the still beating heart in her little black paws. "I cherish it till the end of our days!"

"True love!" She smiled, hugging the pulsating heart. "Heart of a snake. The snake of my heart!"

However, it didn't end there. She paused for a while, trying to keep a smile while drenched in nothing but blood. Ms Rose was frozen like I am, however she stood there standing proud. However, her pride soon came to a bitter end because above her confident smile was an invisible trail of tears. The tears rolled down her eyes and washed some of the blood from her cheeks away.

"I was the one who killed you!" She yelled to herself, collapsed onto her knees. "I failed you! Remember!"

"I failed you!" She laughed, shaking the heart back and forth. "I failed to help you!"

"I couldn't save you..." Ms Rose continued, her laughter growing louder by the second. "Remember how I left you under a tree to die."

Our surroundings began to shatter, everything faded away like small particles of sand being blown away by the wind. As they all flew away, the sound of the forest disappeared, the sound of dancing Pokemon disappeared as well. Soon we found ourselves in the play area under the spotlight of the moon. The beating heart in her turned into a small plushie, a small plushie of a Serperior. However, the blood on and wounds on Ms Rose still remained.

"It's my fault..." She gasped, wiping away her tears before staring at the plushie. "I'm guilty.."

"It doesn't hurt." She added, a faint smile grew on her face. "Just laugh the pain away."

I didn't spend the rest of the night with Ms Rose as I didn't want to talk. Nothing that Ms Rose does scares me, perhaps I was wrong. I wanted to help Ms Rose, after all, mommy often tells me when people are sad the best thing to do is to give them is a hug. Yet I couldn't give anything. The only thing I gave her was the silence. I left Ms Rose that night lying on the ground, crying and laughing. Perhaps I was invisible and I wasn't able to help anyways, perhaps I don't have any courage or perhaps I have blind courage.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Blind courage**

"There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

"Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth." ~ Jalaluddin Rumi, The Essential Rumi

* * *

Jason often buys us picture books. However, the Pokemon at the day care don't seem to be interested in them; as the adults are only interested in each other while the young are only interested in finding out who's the strongest.

I often sit by myself in the pile of pillows reading. Out of the detailed oil painted sceneries and backgrounds I found myself obsessing over a fictional character in the book. The character is a Chespin; in every page he'd always march proud with his blue white rimmed robe, a pinned musketeer slouch hat and white leather gloves and boots. He also has a leather belt in which he hoists his wooden rapier in. Despite the honourable appearance, he'll never be able to see he own heroic figure as he is blind.

For as long as the series of books continued; the Chespin ultimate goal was to defeat an evil Milotic, whom is named "Cancer". However, no matter how long and hard the Chespin fought to defeat the Milotic; the Milotic always finds a way to come back. As beautiful as the Milotic is, she always brings pain.

It's been a while since I last visited Ms Rose due to mom locking me in the staff lounge at night. However, my luck turned and I found the key one night. Soon, I was marching the down the dark hallway once more. Except this time, I walked alone.

"Hello?" I called, my voice echoing through the hall. I expected the shadows to appear, screeching and howling my name.

"Yo..." I called again, cautiously taking another step forward. Yet, nothing replied, not even the crippling sounds of the floor. There was only the empty hallway; nothing else.

I continued making my way towards the play area in silence. However, as I approached the end of the hall; the shadows awaited in front of the door to the play area. At the sight of my familiar figure, the shadows began to groan and spasm while the floors began to creek. Next to the shadows stood a Chespin; a Chespin with a blue and white rimmed robe, with a pinned musketeer slouch hat holding onto a wooden rapier.

"It's okay. It's okay. Calm down." He hushed while hugging the dark mass as if it was tangible. "I know she is a terrible lady but Pokemon can change."

I felt my heart jump at the sight of the shadows, or perhaps at the sight of the familiar Chespin.

 _He's real!_

However, I wasn't too surprised by his appearance. I always knew that characters in books are real, after all, how does the artist/author know what to write or draw. It certainly wasn't imagination.

"What are you doing!" I yelled at the Chespin, taking a few steps back. "Get away from that thing! It'll eat you."

"If you honestly believe that it'll eat you then you must be blind like I am." The Chespin replied, gently stroking the abyss. Soon, the creaking and groaning ceased. The shadows then curled itself into a small pile before wrapping itself around the Chespins waist; lifting him up in the process.

"You can't always judge things just by looking at it." He said, sitting comfortably on top of the pile of black matter.

"But the thing chases me every night when I walk down this hall." I argued, pausing my backwards steps. "It also yells my name like a maniac."

"See no evil, hear no evil then you'll feel no evil." He said, not once making eye contact; his broken eyes looked like cloudy white marbles. "You can't be scared of the dark if you don't see it."

"But—"

"You're scared and you feel hopeless." The Chespin interrupted, folding his arms. "You're scared of the dark and you're hopeless at helping your friend Ms Rose."

"How'd you know Ms Rose."

"Because she killed a Serperior and she's gone missing."

"Ms Rose is gone?"

The Chespin turned around and felt around for the door. When he pushed it open, Ms Rose wasn't there. The only remains of her was the picture that she drew and the Serperior plushy; both lying neatly on the table.

"Ms Rose!" I called, dashing past the shadows and into the room.

My eye darted around, looking any signs of movement. I called and shouted her name, but nobody came to answer my lost calls.

"Ms Rose!" I fretted, stomping my feet before squealing in frustration. "You can't ditch me!"

"Her presence isn't here." The Chespin added. "Even if she is here, you're too blind to see it."

"But I'm not blind!" I said, turning around to face him. "My eyes work fine!"

"Then what's the difference between being blind and not being able to see facts or to see the wounds on yourself?"

Yet he was right, Ms Rose wasn't here, she'd ran away. She did so without dignity and perhaps she was just as blind as I am. I spent the rest of night sitting on the small plastic table under the moonlight, I didn't feel like sleeping so I picked up a crayon and began drawing quietly. Ms Rose will come back...she can't leave me. However, I still wanted to be next to Ms Rose. Instead, I was now next to a blind Chespin who was able to see better than a person with working eyes and the shadows whom I can now call a friend.


End file.
